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The Longest Trip Home: A Memoir (Hardcover)

Description

Finding your place in the world can be the longest trip home . . .

In his debut bestseller, Marley & Me, John Grogan showed how a dog can become an extraordinary presence in the life of one family. Now, in his highly anticipated follow-up, Grogan again works his magic, bringing us the story of what came first.

Before there was Marley, there was a gleefully mischievous boy growing up in a devout Catholic home outside Detroit in the 1960s and '70s. Despite his loving parents' best efforts, John's attempts to meet their expectations failed spectacularly. Whether it was his disastrous first confession, the use of his hobby telescope to take in the bronzed Mrs. Selahowski sunbathing next door, the purloined swigs of sacramental wine, or, as he got older, the fumbled attempts to sneak contraband past his father and score with girls beneath his mother's vigilant radar, John was figuring out that the faith and fervor that came so effortlessly to his parents somehow had eluded him.

And then one day, a strong-willed young woman named Jenny walked into his life. As their love grew, John began the painful, funny, and poignant journey into adulthood--away from his parents' orbit and into a life of his own. It would take a fateful call and the onset of illness to lead him on the final leg of his journey--the trip home again.

The Longest Trip Home is a book for any son or daughter who has sought to forge an identity at odds with their parents', and for every parent who has struggled to understand the values of their children. It is a book about mortality and grace, spirit and faith, and the powerful love of family. With his trademark blend of humor and pathos that made Marley & Me beloved by millions, John Grogan traces the universal journey each of us must take to find our unique place in the world.

Filled with revelation and laugh-out-loud humor, The Longest Trip Home will capture your heart--but mostly it will make you want to reach out to those you love.

Praise For…

“Genuinely heartending. . .Grogan invests these events with deeply felt humanity and pathos.” -Janet Maslin, New York Times

“As he did in Marley, Grogan makes readers feel they have a seat at the family dinner table. He’s now a nonpracticing Catholic, but here—to wonderful effect—he confesses all.” -People Magazine, 4 stars

“As he did in Marley, Grogan makes readers feel they have a seat at the family dinner table. He’s now a nonpracticing Catholic, but here—to wonderful effect—he confesses all.” -Teen People Book Club

“From the author of Marley & Me (2005), this is an extraordinary memoir of estrangement and reconciliation.” -Booklist

“John Grogan is more like Marley than he might want to believe. An affable, unassuming rabble-rouser, the author who penned a bestseller about his goofy dog gets up to some hilarious antics of his own ... The resulting story is full of humor [and] poignant scenes. -BookPage

“As he did in Marley, Grogan makes readers feel they have a seat at the family dinner table. He’s now a nonpracticing Catholic, but here-to wonderful effect-he confesses all.” -People

“Grogan’s memoir of his journey for identity is akin to Barack Obama’s Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance.” -Library Journal

“With his telltale humor and poignant observations about life and our humanity, John Grogan delivers another emotional wallop here. THE LONGEST TRIP HOME is a must read for anyone who has questioned their faith, sought to understand their identity, and loved their family. In other words, everyone.” -Ann Hood, author of Comfort: A Journey Through Grief and The Knitting Circle